For the last three months we have seen selling prices fluctuate but many other factors have held stable. Since September, the number of houses sold has held steady ranging from 190 to 199 houses sold per month. Over the same time, the number of foreclosed transactions has been at or near the lowest percentages for the year. The local mortgage rates for the last three months have hovered just slightly above the 4 percent rate. The average selling price took a significant dive in October, dropping 16 percent from September but now has bounced back 15 percent in November to $170,600. The median selling price over the three months held almost even for September and October but dropped 19 percent in November to $88,000.

Since August, the local housing market year-to-date has kept pace with and just slightly below what the market was doing a year ago. With the exception of the average selling price fluctuating, the market was also on pace with where it was in 2009. Last year at the end of October, three more houses were sold, the average selling price was 2 percent higher and the median selling price was 4 percent higher than this year. While we are seeing typical monthly changes, the year-to-date numbers are suggesting that the market is stabilizing and hopefully providing more sustainable conditions. The mortgage rates may have been a factor in that rates reported in October have dropped from 5.22 in 2009 to 4.47 in 2010 to 4.23 this year.